


Warmth

by Skyliaskye



Series: Born To be Wild [5]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Time be my dad :(, Wild (Linked Universe)-centric, also Legend be my bro :(, also some revelations in the club??, he also does some contimplating but whats new, sky and four are mentioned, this time eye eye, wild does some cooking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:20:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27774424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyliaskye/pseuds/Skyliaskye
Summary: Link stared in horror, and the Hylian clad in murky brown and dark green (Hyrule, his mind delivered) stared back.The difference?Their eyes stared at the pot of burning rice and the flames that accompanied them, overtaking the surface of the pot with extraordinary strength and billowing smoke to top it off-Link felt his hand twitch.He should’ve known this would’ve happen.Out of everything that could have happened, it was this that started it all.Firstly, let's get this one thing straight-Link is good at cooking.
Series: Born To be Wild [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2023901
Comments: 3
Kudos: 336





	Warmth

Link stared in horror, and the Hylian clad in murky brown and dark green (Hyrule, his mind delivered) stared back.

The difference? 

Their eyes stared at the pot of burning rice and the flames that accompanied them, overtaking the surface of the pot with extraordinary strength and billowing smoke to top it off- 

Link felt his hand twitch.

He should’ve known this would’ve happen. 

Out of everything that could have happened, it was this that started it all.

Firstly, let's get this one thing straight- 

Link is good at cooking. 

No, actually, considering how Zelda’s eyes would light up, or when Sidon goes in for seconds (though Link assumed it was because Sidon is a _Hyliadamn_ Zora, but let him have this-), Link would say his cooking is great. 

He doesn’t understand how, or when he developed this ability, even Zelda was lost on that one, but it was something he was proud of- the fact that the wilderness around him, as assholish as it could be, was tameable in a way that brought smiles to other’s faces was something that Link enjoyed quite immensely. 

Back to the problem though. 

Link is great at cooking. 

The others… are _not_ great at cooking. 

Link cringed at the smell of burning rice that hit his nose, his observant eyes locking onto the pot that held the said rice… with... no water…

_What?_

Ok, scratch that previous statement, the others Hyliadamn _**suck**_ at cooking. 

Because who the hell can’t cook rice? It’s water and rice -it’s that simple- you put the water in the pot and then the rice (and maybe put a little goat butter in there so the rice won’t stick to the bottom) and just keep stirring over an open fire till boom! Cooked rice! 

His fingers twitched alongside his ears at the searing hiss of the pot that reached his ears. 

He swept his eyes up and found himself connecting eyes to Hyrule -the traveller, Link had chalked him up as- in all his glory, looking like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.  
And the others? 

Well, the others looked like it was normal for this to happen. 

And, oh, is that not good- had they been living like this all this time? 

Link’s mind considered the facts. 

He had been with them for merely three days, two in which was spent at an inn whilst he was caught up to speed on the events that had occurred.

Those two days that included dining in the said inn, before setting out on the dawn of the third day. They ate dinner at the inn, they ate breakfast- hell, Link had seen them buy snacks (mere apples! There was an apple tree _right outside!_ ) at the inn. 

Yeah, it all checked out. 

The traveller threw the pot on the ground, wild eyes seeking out someone with the ability to help. 

Seconds later, the pot was frozen over. 

Link felt his hand twitch again. 

“Ah well, here’s to the next batch.” A water skin pouch was brought to the air, and Link followed it down to the one clad with a blue scarf (Warriors, he answered himself), finding the Hylian looking as sad as he was amused with everything that had just occurred. 

A chorus of groans followed. 

Just how often did this happen?

He heard a chuckle to his left, an outlier to the sounds of anguish,  
“Poor Wild, having to finally see our true selves.” Link couldn’t find himself to flinch at the name, instead watching on as Twilight (an itch as the back of his mind hit him their eyes connected, but Link ignored that too) huffed out a small smile, “to most, we are friends; to everyone, we are heroes. But as chefs? We aren’t so lucky.” 

Yeah, Link could tell. 

“I can cook-“  
“No, no, you can’t call that food.” Wind -The sailor- slumped at that, as Warriors laid a comforting hand on his shoulder,  
“It’s ok bud, it was only a little sharp and hard.” The smaller glared above, but the latter merely shrugged, “turned out to be good ammunition when we fought those monsters afterwards.” 

Link…

Link didn’t even want to know. 

“Uh,” eyes snapped back to the traveller, who picked up the pot, ice evidently glazed over it still, “I think that was the last of the rice, guys.” 

Another chorus of groans. 

Link said nothing. 

“So, we’re back to eating those ration bars then?” Time questioned. 

No one wanted to answer, and Link felt his hand twitch again. 

He pulled out his slate. 

Almost immediately he felt all of their eyes on him and he held back the urge to turn away and to hide. His skin pricked at their gazes, yet he ignored it as best as he could as he glanced down into his inventory. 

The camp was silent, apart from the crackling of the fire that had not been scathed by the chaos that had just occurred. 

Link swiped his finger to the next page, observing the way his hand shook a fraction more at the attention that was held against him. 

After several moments, he nodded to himself- he had all of the ingredients he needed (for such a big group, he was impressed that he did; he’d have to go foraging for more soon).

He looked up. 

Everyone looked back. 

His stomach fell at the eyes and he detached his gaze immediately, the overwhelming sense of dread festering into the pit of his stomach. 

“Care to say something?” That was the pink one- Legend, as others had called him. Someone ‘tut’d from the other side of the camp,  
“None of that attitude, now. Wild,” Link forced his gaze up, connecting to Time, “did you want to do something?” the elder’s eyes gazed down to the slate and Link almost hid it from his view. 

Link considered his next step. 

He opened his mouth. 

He closed it again. 

His eyes found the firepit and he made no move to explain. 

The silence stuck to the group for several more seconds. 

“Hyrule.”  
“Yeah?”  
“Move away from the firepit please.” Hryule did so quickly. 

Link took one more glance back at Time, who nodded towards the dancing flames. 

Link felt the tips of his ears burn as he gripped onto his slate and nodded slightly before B-lining towards his destination. 

The silence grew louder. 

Link sat at the edge of the fire and breathed.

His slate did the rest as it produced the items he needed, shimmering into existence in a blue light. 

Almost immediately, the Hylian heard someone gasp and he paused, eying the sailor as he shuffled a little closer,  
“What was THAT?” from beside him, Warrior’s look impressed,  
“That’s something new.”  
Several others pitched in their comments, their questions, that made Link shrink into himself. 

He supposes he should’ve realised this would’ve happened. 

This isn’t the first time he had ever needed to explain himself, no, he’s done this before. Between the people that he knew, it was obvious that many people had never seen this kind of device (he boldly remembers Bolson’s face as he emptied the ideal amount of wood that the Hylian had asked for- thirty- fifty bundles? Either way, It led to a very lengthy explanation about what the slate was.) 

Link had no problem explaining it- until now, it seemed. 

He looked forward, and several eyes pried back.

His throat hasn't been able constricted his will to talk for a while now. 

Time cleared his throat,  
“Right. That’s it, come on, you’re overwhelming him. Just sit back down and talk to him later.” And there it was again- that commanding tone. 

No debates were had, and the others backed off. 

Link blinked, before breathing out a breath he didn’t know he had held. 

His fingers trembled in his lap. 

He got to work. 

Zelda once told Link that cooking could be considered as therapeutic to him. 

Link agreed.

Cooking felt good to do. 

Away from the stress of Calamity, back when had begun his journey, cooking had been introduced by Rhoam to him. From that mere one recipe that the King of Old had produced to him, Link had figured out two things. 

One- Cooking meant that most things were salvageable and were able to be harnessed and cultivated into something that was edible and gave life. 

Cooking meant survival.

And two- Link _really_ liked to cook. Survival was good and all, but cooking meant something deeper for him. It was almost an escape, wrapped within an excuse to create food for himself. He could be anywhere in the land of Hyrule, and cooking would be right there waiting for him, with an almost endless number of ingredients to hone and change and enhance, Link truly did enjoy cooking. 

Though, although Link couldn’t cook all the time, no, and sometimes he really did cook for his survival (that’s usually when the monster parts come into play, and he still doesn’t know how to feel about it), there was something that felt oddly familiar to him every time he cooked- it almost felt like home, in a way (or at least that’s what he calls the feeling). 

All in all, yeah, Link enjoyed cooking. 

For the meal he was creating now, it took merely half an hour to prepare and cook. 

Spicy Meat and Seafood Fry.

The first meal he had cooked, and it certainly wasn’t his last- he just hoped the others liked it.

Link heard a distant grumble and looked wide-eyed in Legend’s direction. 

Wait- no, that wasn’t Legend, was it? 

“Legend, was that your _stomach?_ ” Before Link could process the words, the Hylian flushed red, quickly shouting at Warriors, who merely burst into a hearty laugh, clapping the smaller on the back, which only served to anger the smaller even more. 

The sound of Warriors laughs reverberated within the camp, and seconds later, most of the others joined in. 

Link blinked at the pink streaked Hylian, and then at the others, before looking down at his food. 

He quickly served up a plate, ignoring the quickly growing nerves, before standing up and making his way over to the reddened man, who had yet to let up on his onslaught against the scarfed warrior. 

Link stood in front of him. 

The laughter died out slowly. 

After several seconds, Legend turned to Link, eyes connected to each other. 

Link held out the dish. 

A silence settled in.

Legend’s face contorted into one of confusion, before they fell onto the dish and the expression fell neutral. 

The silence stretched on, and Link was quick to begin to doubt himself- did he push their boundaries? Had they had a tradition that they followed before being served? 

Link didn’t know. 

However, A hand caught him off guard as Legend gently took the meal from him, his eyes never leaving the plate. 

Link’s hands trembled, though he was quick to guide them back into each other’s grasp in an attempted to stop it. 

Quickly, from beside Legend, Warriors butted his shoulder to Legend’s, eyes also gazing against the plate as a frown settled into place,  
“Well that isn’t fair.” Link’s hand twitched, “this is the best meal I’ve laid my eyes on in a long while and Legend gets the first serve?” to prove his point, he reaches over, attempting to grab a piece. Legend, however, quickly apprehends the hand in his own and he flicks it away, a glare gluing itself to Warrior’s figure,  
“Go get your own plate you buffoon.”  
“BUFFOON?” 

Link blinked once more. 

He could feel his heart stammering as the two in front of him argued. 

Almost automatically, he shuffled away, back to the firepit where the rest of the meal settled, ready to be served itself. Behind him, he could still hear legend defending his meal against Warriors, yet this time with the sailor as his sidekick. From the other side, he could hear Time sigh out, possibly in exaggeration, but there was a tone of fondness to it (fondness. He hadn’t heard that in a while). Beside the leader, Twilight chuckle, just as the other three, the traveller, Sky, and the smallest, Four (he still didn’t understand why he was named that) merely observed. 

Link could feel a warmth settle in. 

A warmth that both startled him, yet calmed him at the same time- why? Had it been because they liked his food? Because he hadn’t wasted their time? 

Link took a second to take a glance back, just as Legend begun to scarf down the food, one foot used to keep Warriors back as Wind, who had climbed onto Warriors shoulders, was reaching out for said food. 

He didn’t understand.

Legend gave a triumph of a shout as he branded his finished plate, before pointing towards Link- the said Hylian startling once more,  
“You’re either cooking for us every night or teaching us how to cook, no ‘if’s or ‘but’s, ok?!” Link, who probably looked close to a deer caught in the headlight, merely nodded, “good. Also, I hope there’s enough for seconds.” 

The warmth swelled, and although it confused Link, he didn’t mind it. 

Legend, however, branded his plate once more, looking like a Hylian on a mission, just as Warriors, alongside several others, called their dibs on the next serving.

Link’s eyes barely grazed over to Time’s, who gave an endearing nod at the turn of events. 

No, Link didn’t mind at all.

**Author's Note:**

> sweetie the feeling is called belongign xoxox


End file.
